News

A driver has been fined £800 at the roadside after breaching HGV drivers’ hours offences.

The 25-year-old, who was driving a 44-ton vehicle that is registered in the Republic of Ireland, was stopped only two weeks-ago for similar offences whilst travelling along the A55 on Anglesey.

The driver was stopped as part of a road safety impact day carried out by the Roads Policing Unit and Commercial Vehicle Unit at the weighbridge in Dalar Hir. A vehicle examiner from North Wales Police’ Forensic Collision Investigation Unit also joined the team to inspect vehicles and a Special Constable from the Force Specials Road Safety Unit assisted during the day.

Learner drivers will be able to have lessons on motorways in a bid to improve road safety, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced today (13 August 2017).

The law change will be active from 2018, when learners will be allowed on motorways with an approved driving instructor in a dual control car. This will provide a broader range of real life experiences and better prepare learners for independent driving when they pass their test.

Currently learners cannot drive on a motorway until after they have passed their test. This means the first experience of motorway driving for many is as a new driver without the guidance of a driving instructor or the safety of a dual control car.

Parents are encouraged to watch a new video produced to highlight common ‘routing’ problems, which could endanger the lives of young children being carried in car seats.

The Good Egg Safety video, shows parents how to fix simple errors such as where the carry handle should be safely positioned on the seat. Good Egg Safety says the thousands of free child-car seat checks it carries out across the UK each year have shown that the errors highlighted in the video are on the rise.

As well as watching the video, Good Egg Safety is recommending that parents re-read their car seat instruction manual.

Final estimates for 2015 show that 200 people were killed in accidents in Great Britain where at least one driver was over the drink drive limit.

Although the final estimate for 2015 shows that the number of fatalities has fallen by 40 since 2014, this change is not statistically significant.

1,370 people were estimated to ahve been killed or seriously injured in drink drive accidents. This represents a statistically significant rise from 1,310 in 2014, and is the highest estimate since 2012.

The estimated total number of accidents where at least one driver was over the alcohol limit rose by 2 percent to 5,730 in 2015.

Since 1979 there has been a 71 per cent reduction in the number of drink drive accidents, and a 73 per cent reduction in casualties.

The British Horse Society (BHS) has launched the Ride Safe Award, a new qualification designed to help the UK's 1.3 million horse riders feel safer and more confident when riding out on the road.

Described as the equivalent to cycling's Bikeability scheme, the Ride Safe Award is endorsed by the DfT's THINK! campaign.

To launch the award, sports broadcaster Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes and 18-year-old international dressage champion, Phoebe Peters took part in a Ride Safe demonstration to show the importance of being confident when riding out.